Hurray! Tom came home on Thursday night, a day earlier than expected. I had off on Friday, and we are enjoying our long weekend together. We start dive certification classes on Monday night, so soon we will be able to go out actually diving. Tom is pretty excited to get certified, because the ship will be going to some amazing dive sites during their next trip, and he will be able to dive and see things most people in the world never even dream of.
Anyway, I will post more soon, and get some pictures up, but I just wanted to let everyone know that Tom is home safe and sound. Oh, and we had some good news yesterday, we both were selected for Lieutenant Commander. So, in a little less than a year we will be promoted (one step closer to Forest City Distinguished Citizen for me!). Congrats to Joe Joe, Kelly in Va, Kelly in CT, Corinna and anyone else who might see this who I am not thinking of right now.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Snorkeling Adventure
This weekend, an area of the navy base which is not normally open for hiking was open. On Sunday, Tara, Liz & Roberto and I hiked down the ruins of the Spanish Steps to Orote Cove. The snorkeling was great. Here are a few pictures of the cove first.
Here are some underwater pictures from the snorkeling portion of the expedition. Some of them are little fuzzy, partly because I am still learning how to use the camera underwater, and partly because the tide was coming in pretty strong, making it hard to hold still and stirring up sand.
The pictures do give idea of the fish and corals under our tropical waters. The pictures of the orange and black clown fish peeking out of the sea anemone are pretty cute. Nemo, of "Finding Nemo" fame is a clown fish. The clown fish will actually come up to you if you hold still for long enough. They are curious little fishies! I also like the purple and green clams, I am not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the colors were almost psychadelic. The colors in general are very brilliant on the reef.
The brain coral were also amazing. There is a lot of life under the water, you would never even know about just from looking out at the view from above.
A picture of me snorkeling!
This last one is Liz and Roberto on the beach adjacent to the cove.
The trip today topped off an eventful weekend. I had hoped to have some pictures of my new cat to share on the blog... However, when I went to shelter to meet the cats and give one a home I got bitten on the hand. It was actually the one I was about to adopt. She was very friendly and came right up to me and rubbed against me. Then she bit me, hard enough to draw blood. Now, I am not a cat novice, I know when a cat is playing and accidentally plays to rough, and this cat intended to bite and hurt me.
So, needless to say, I came home without a furry companion. I have decided to wait until Tommy gets home and we can pick out a cat, or maybe even a kitten together. The experience has made me rethink my stance on getting a kitten. At least with a kitten, I can be pretty sure no one has mistreated it and made it mean. The whole ordeal made me sad and angry at cats in general... and really it just made me miss my sweet, loving Gizmo even more.
Here are some underwater pictures from the snorkeling portion of the expedition. Some of them are little fuzzy, partly because I am still learning how to use the camera underwater, and partly because the tide was coming in pretty strong, making it hard to hold still and stirring up sand.
The pictures do give idea of the fish and corals under our tropical waters. The pictures of the orange and black clown fish peeking out of the sea anemone are pretty cute. Nemo, of "Finding Nemo" fame is a clown fish. The clown fish will actually come up to you if you hold still for long enough. They are curious little fishies! I also like the purple and green clams, I am not sure if you can tell from the picture, but the colors were almost psychadelic. The colors in general are very brilliant on the reef.
The brain coral were also amazing. There is a lot of life under the water, you would never even know about just from looking out at the view from above.
A picture of me snorkeling!
This last one is Liz and Roberto on the beach adjacent to the cove.
The trip today topped off an eventful weekend. I had hoped to have some pictures of my new cat to share on the blog... However, when I went to shelter to meet the cats and give one a home I got bitten on the hand. It was actually the one I was about to adopt. She was very friendly and came right up to me and rubbed against me. Then she bit me, hard enough to draw blood. Now, I am not a cat novice, I know when a cat is playing and accidentally plays to rough, and this cat intended to bite and hurt me.
So, needless to say, I came home without a furry companion. I have decided to wait until Tommy gets home and we can pick out a cat, or maybe even a kitten together. The experience has made me rethink my stance on getting a kitten. At least with a kitten, I can be pretty sure no one has mistreated it and made it mean. The whole ordeal made me sad and angry at cats in general... and really it just made me miss my sweet, loving Gizmo even more.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A little adventure
I got home from work today a little earlier than I have been, which meant that there was enough daylight left for me to go out for a walk. There is a water tank up the hill from our house, and a trail that leads into the hills from it. I went up there today, and took some pictures to share. The pictures probably would have come out better if it was sunny out, but at least is was fairly cool for my excursion up the hill due to the clouds.
Both of these pictures are the view to the southwest from the hill.
The view to the southeast.
As I was hiking, I noticed the breeze picking up, and looked over to the east to see the picture to the right coming my way. I think you can probably tell from the picture that a small rain storm was headed my way. I decided not to get caught in this one, and headed back down the hill home. The second photo is a cumulus cloud slightly seperate from the rain storm. One very cool thing out here is that at almost any time you can look at the sky and see all different cloud forms. I am going to keep my eye out for a nice big cumulonimbus cloud surrounded by blue sky out over the water to get a good shot of.
I got home just as the rain started, but had time to snap this shot of an unknown (to me at least) species of plant in my yard.
More to come soon.
Both of these pictures are the view to the southwest from the hill.
The view to the southeast.
As I was hiking, I noticed the breeze picking up, and looked over to the east to see the picture to the right coming my way. I think you can probably tell from the picture that a small rain storm was headed my way. I decided not to get caught in this one, and headed back down the hill home. The second photo is a cumulus cloud slightly seperate from the rain storm. One very cool thing out here is that at almost any time you can look at the sky and see all different cloud forms. I am going to keep my eye out for a nice big cumulonimbus cloud surrounded by blue sky out over the water to get a good shot of.
I got home just as the rain started, but had time to snap this shot of an unknown (to me at least) species of plant in my yard.
More to come soon.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Not so adventurous weekend
I am afraid that I am not living up to the blog title. I have not been so adventurous since I got back last week. That is partly due to the rainy season, I do not want to go out hiking, and get stuck at the bottom of a slippery, muddy mess, needing rescue. Now, that would be embarrassing.
So, I do not have much to report after the weekend. I went to a beach cleanup event on Saturday morning with some people from work. It was fun because they brought their puppy, and she was very cute playing with the kids at the beach. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I have no picture to share from that excursion.
I also went shopping and bought this very cool new chair. It is carved from a teak tree root. I think it is very unique, and it will be a surprise for Tommy when he gets home. I had to control myself and not buy two, although I still may go back and get another. The store also had a nice dining room table, made locally of monkey pod wood. I refrained from that one by reminding myself of the lovely oak dining room table we left in storage. I certainly do not need two of everything.
SEQUOIA will leave Honolulu tomorrow morning, and they should be home right at the end of September. We plan on getting certified to dive during that inport. Stand by for underwater pictures.
I also decided today that I am going to go the animal shelter and get a cat. I will get an adult cat, not a kitten. Kitten's are cute, but I am not home all day, and I would hate to leave the little thing alone all the time. Plus, as I learned from my neighbors in CT, sometimes, kittens are not all they are cracked up to be!
OK, I promise to have some more interesting adventures this week (and to take the camera along on the adventures). For now, I will leave you all with a picture of my kitchen. It is huge. I still miss the five burner gas range in CT, but this kitchen almost makes up for the electric stove top with all of the counter space. Honestly, 10 people could cook in this kitchen without bumping in to each other!
So, I do not have much to report after the weekend. I went to a beach cleanup event on Saturday morning with some people from work. It was fun because they brought their puppy, and she was very cute playing with the kids at the beach. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so I have no picture to share from that excursion.
I also went shopping and bought this very cool new chair. It is carved from a teak tree root. I think it is very unique, and it will be a surprise for Tommy when he gets home. I had to control myself and not buy two, although I still may go back and get another. The store also had a nice dining room table, made locally of monkey pod wood. I refrained from that one by reminding myself of the lovely oak dining room table we left in storage. I certainly do not need two of everything.
SEQUOIA will leave Honolulu tomorrow morning, and they should be home right at the end of September. We plan on getting certified to dive during that inport. Stand by for underwater pictures.
I also decided today that I am going to go the animal shelter and get a cat. I will get an adult cat, not a kitten. Kitten's are cute, but I am not home all day, and I would hate to leave the little thing alone all the time. Plus, as I learned from my neighbors in CT, sometimes, kittens are not all they are cracked up to be!
OK, I promise to have some more interesting adventures this week (and to take the camera along on the adventures). For now, I will leave you all with a picture of my kitchen. It is huge. I still miss the five burner gas range in CT, but this kitchen almost makes up for the electric stove top with all of the counter space. Honestly, 10 people could cook in this kitchen without bumping in to each other!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Home again
I am back home from my brief trip up to Saipan in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). It was a productive trip, but I am happy to be back. I have some pictures from the trip.
This is suicide cliff at the northern end of the island, so named because Japanese soldiers driven there by US forces jumped off the cliff rather than be captured.
Banzai Cliff. A similar story, but sadder. This was the sight of the deaths of many Japanese and Saipanese civilians who jumped to their deaths for fear of capture.
Saipan from the airplane.
Some clouds out over the ocean. This is the rainy season here, I will spare you all the meteorological lecture on why... at least for now.
Two pictures of Guam taken from the airplane as we approached.
And finally, a photo of the view from our balcony... lovely, isn't it?
This is suicide cliff at the northern end of the island, so named because Japanese soldiers driven there by US forces jumped off the cliff rather than be captured.
Banzai Cliff. A similar story, but sadder. This was the sight of the deaths of many Japanese and Saipanese civilians who jumped to their deaths for fear of capture.
Saipan from the airplane.
Some clouds out over the ocean. This is the rainy season here, I will spare you all the meteorological lecture on why... at least for now.
Two pictures of Guam taken from the airplane as we approached.
And finally, a photo of the view from our balcony... lovely, isn't it?
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Some pictures
I realized today that I have some photos of guam. I did not take these, they were taken by Chris, a shipmate of Tom's on Sequoia. At least they give you an idea of what the island looks like.
This first one is of the natural pools at Inajaran. We went swimming there in July. It is really neat, the whole island is surrounded by reef, so there is not much surf at the beaches. These pools are even more calm, and have quite a bit of life in them despite all the swimmers.
This photo is of Orote Point from the air. This is the southern part of the Navy Base. I think the beach you see here is Gab Gab beach, which has amazing snorkeling. The day we went out snorkeling there, I was truly amazed at the corals and fish. There is also a nice hike that goes out to the end of the point, and down to the beach there. Unfortunately, access down that beach is closed right now for some Navy reason or another.
This last one is of the boat basin in Hagatna, the captial city of Guam.
More photos to come when I return from Saipan.
This first one is of the natural pools at Inajaran. We went swimming there in July. It is really neat, the whole island is surrounded by reef, so there is not much surf at the beaches. These pools are even more calm, and have quite a bit of life in them despite all the swimmers.
This photo is of Orote Point from the air. This is the southern part of the Navy Base. I think the beach you see here is Gab Gab beach, which has amazing snorkeling. The day we went out snorkeling there, I was truly amazed at the corals and fish. There is also a nice hike that goes out to the end of the point, and down to the beach there. Unfortunately, access down that beach is closed right now for some Navy reason or another.This last one is of the boat basin in Hagatna, the captial city of Guam.
More photos to come when I return from Saipan.
Welcome to my blog
Well, this is my inaugural blog. I am back in Guam after six weeks in PA and VA, visiting family and friends. Oh, and also attending a class. Tom and I had a wonderful time in Hawaii, we spent two days on the Big Island relaxing and enjoying our time together. He will not be home until the end of September, so it was a welcome break to spend a few days together. I arrived home on Wednesday night, and I leave again for Saipan on Sunday. That will be a short trip though, I will be back home on Tuesday.
If anyone is wondering, the rumors about Guam were all false. We have not even seen one snake yet, no huge spiders, only one tropical storm and no crazy wild dogs. We did however, already have a termite problem, but that has been solved. I will have some photos and more to share after my trip to Saipan.
If anyone is wondering, the rumors about Guam were all false. We have not even seen one snake yet, no huge spiders, only one tropical storm and no crazy wild dogs. We did however, already have a termite problem, but that has been solved. I will have some photos and more to share after my trip to Saipan.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)